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30.06 ? 16.07.04 I visited Japan for 16 days, staying in Nagaoka 'city', Niigata prefecture. This pleasant town of 20,000 is situated on the Shinano river, some 60km south of Niigata city and 30km from the Sea of Japan coast. Several excursions were made into the surrounding area in search of birds, with various secondary forest-covered hills on the edge of the town providing the most interesting birding, along with the riverside 'scrub-and- allotment' habitat along the Shinano Gawa. This was not a good season to be birding, for although many birds were still in song, temperatures reached 38 degrees along with a humidity to match, and then torrential and continuous rain (that dropped 400mm in a day) further hampered birding! The daylight hours are also fairly unkind, getting light at 4am and dark at 7pm! When it was very hot, bird activity (and observer enthusiasm!) dropped right off after 7am, as it was just too hot to move. However, the taste of the local avifauna was exciting enough. Below are listed the sites and species recorded. Nagaoka town: The Shinano river runs through the town, and has three large bridges crossing it between the older town on the east bank and a newer US-style 'retail-development' on the west bank. There is a lot of semi-natural habitat along the riverside, and there is a sizable area of scrub, trees and small gardens/allotments between the bridges on the west bank, within the town itself. Here I saw Bull-headed Shrike, Black-faced Bunting, Black-browed Reed Warbler and Green Pheasant. The river itself is broad and shallow with many sandbanks and islands, with Little Ringed Plovers, but I was unable to find any Long-billeds! Frequent walks were taken along a canal that ran north-south within the residential area in the eastern part of town, that was thickly vegetated with tall typha-like reeds. To the south-east of the town is the Yukyazan temple park, with some tall trees around a hillock, which provided a home for Varied Tit and Narcissus Flycatcher. A few km to the east is Happodai, a ridge at 750m covered mostly in secondary forest with a couple of access roads to the top and a road (Rt. 352) in to a valley with a few allotments, signposted 'Higashiyama Family Land'. Here I saw Japanese Yellow Bunting, Japanese Grosbeak and Japanese Paradise Flycatcher. Also on the eastern fringe of the town, just off Rt. 9, is a small lake called 'Hiakentsutsumi' where I saw Mandarin Ducks. A drive into the adjoining valley of Tochio, east of Nagaoka, revealed similar birds such as Japanese Yellow Bunting, along a minor road (Rt. 347) The most productive site was the Echigo Hillside Forest, a few km to the west of Nagaoka, that has a nice 2km ridge walk through mixed forest at 400m. Here I saw Japanese Thrush, Blue and White and Narcissus Flycatchers, Japanese Pygmy and Japanese Green Woodpeckers. This 'park' does not open until 0900 though! There is some fantastic habitat on the border with the next prefecture (Fukushima) to the south-east, in the Oze region where there is a large amount of mature mixed forest between 1000 and 2000m, bound to be full of nice birds, and we did indeed visit the area. It was unfortunate that our visit coincided with torrential and continuous rain which actually stranded us for a night because of flooding and landslides, but that was nothing compared to what the people downstream had to endure, when the rivers burst their banks and inundated three towns with 2 to 3 metres of water and sticky yellow mud! We also visited the coastal port of Teradomari, where the most interesting sight was its fish market. I rented a small car for a couple of days, from the railway station in Nagaoka, for the reasonable price of £60/12000yen for 48 hours. Driving is straightforward and simple to accomplish, and should not present any problem for the visitor. Species List: Green Pheasant Phasianus versicolor: A female with three chicks seen by the Shinano river in Nagaoka Mandarin Duck Aix galericulata: Several females and eclipse plumage males seen near Nagaoka at Hiakentsutsumi lake, and a single near Tochio. Chinese Spot-billed Duck Anas zonorhyncha: Often seen on any wetland . Common Merganser Mergus merganser: A single male seen roosting on a sandbar on the Shinano river Japanese Pygmy Woodpecker Dendrocopos kizuki: Only seen at Echigo Hillside Forest Japanese Woodpecker Picus awokera: One seen at Echigo Hillside Forest Common Kingfisher Alcedo atthis: A single at Yukyuzan.
Lesser Cuckoo Cuculus poliocephalus: Seen near Tochio, and heard frequently in hill forest White-throated Needletail Hirundapus caudacutus: Two seen near Oze, dodging raindrops! Oriental Turtle Dove Streptopelia orientalis: Common around towns and villages. Common Sandpiper Actitis hypoleucos: Odd birds seen. Little Ringed Plover Charadrius dubius: Numerous along the Shinano river. Black-tailed Gull Larus crassirostris: 200 or more at Teradomari. Little Tern Sterna albifrons: A few seen along the Shinano river. Osprey Pandion haliaetus: Two seen at the rivermouth at Teradomari. Black-eared Kite Milvus lineatus: Often seen along the rivers. Grey-faced Buzzard Butastur indicus: Often seen over the forested hills. Common Buzzard Buteo buteo: A single seen along the river at Nagaoka. Little Grebe Tachybaptus ruficollis: A few seen with chicks at Hiakentsutsumi lake. Great Cormorant Phalacrocorax carbo: Numerous along the Shinano river. Little Egret Egretta garzetta: Odd singles around Nagaoka paddyfields. Grey Heron Ardea cinerea: Common on the rivers and canals. Great Egret Casmerodius albus: Odd singles around Nagaoka paddyfields. Black-crowned Night Heron Nycticorax nycticorax: Common around the Nagaoka town canal. Bull-headed Shrike Lanius bucephalus: Singles seen at Oze and along the Shinano river. Brown Shrike Lanius cristatus: Common around Nagaoka, even in town. Eurasian Jay Garrulus glandarius: Seen in hill forest at Oze. Azure-winged Magpie Cyanopica cyanus: Seen around the outskirts of Nagaoka. Carrion Crow Corvus corone: Common. Large-billed Crow Corvus macrorhynchos: Not uncommon. Ashy Minivet Pericrocotus divaricatus: Seen and hear in the hill forests Japanese Paradise-flycatcher Terpsiphone atrocaudata: A female was observed feeding a fledged juvenile near Nagaoka at 'Higashiyama Family Land' Japanese Thrush Turdus cardis: Seen around Nagaoka and heard in the riverine habitat. Asian Brown Flycatcher Muscicapa dauurica: Adult & juv seen at Echigo Hillside Forest. Narcissus Flycatcher Ficedula narcissina: Common in good forest around Nagaoka and at Oze. Blue-and-white Flycatcher Cyanoptila cyanomelana: The only one seen was at Echigo Hillside Forest Siberian Blue Robin Luscinia cyane: Singing well at Oze, and glimpsed once. Chestnut-cheeked Starling Sturnus philippensis: Seen along the Nagaoka canal, and also along the Shinano river. White-cheeked Starling Sturnus cineraceus: Common around town. Winter Wren Troglodytes troglodytes: Heard near Happodai. Coal Tit Parus ater: Seen at Oze. Great Tit Parus major: Common in the forest Varied Tit Parus varius: Seen at Yukyuzan. Long-tailed Tit Aegithalos caudatus: A small flock at Echigo Hillside Forest Barn Swallow Hirundo rustica: Common. Asian House Martin Delichon dasypus: Frequently encountered, from the coast up to 1500m. Brown-eared Bulbul Ixos amaurotis: Very common around Nagaoka. Japanese White-eye Zosterops japonicus:Fairly common in forest. Japanese Bush Warbler Cettia diphone: Common in the hills and forest, and very vocal! Black-browed Reed Warbler Acrocephalus bistrigiceps: A couple of singing birds along the Shinan river in Nagaoka. Oriental Reed Warbler Acrocephalus orientalis: Common, along the reedy canals and even in hillside scrub! Pale-legged Leaf Warbler Phylloscopus tenellipes: A family party seen at Oze. Japanese Skylark Alauda japonica: Common in open areas. Eurasian Tree Sparrow Passer montanus: Common around town. Black-backed Wagtail Motacilla lugens: Fairly common. Japanese Wagtail Motacilla grandis: Only seen near Echigo Hillside Forest Grey Wagtail Motacilla cinerea: Common in the hills. Grey-capped Greenfinch Carduelis sinica: Common. Japanese Grosbeak Eophona personata: A single seen at Happodai. Meadow Bunting Emberiza cioides: Very common in scrub and secondary forest. Japanese Yellow Bunting Emberiza sulphurata: Numerous singing birds seen at Tochio and on the outskirts of Nagaoka at the 'Higashiyama Family Land'. I thought they were supposed to be a bit rare!? Black-faced Bunting Emberiza spodocephala: One or two singing from riverine scrub at Nagaoka. MAMMALS Yellow Marten Martes melampus: Crippling views of one running along the path towards me at Echigo Hillside Forest. |
